Hitting or missing analyst estimates isn't necessarily a make-or-break situation for a publicly traded company. This was illustrated sharply by robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer iRobot (IRBT -8.13%) on Wednesday, following the publication of its second-quarter earnings release. Bullish investors pushed the company's share price up in afternoon trading, and toward the end of the session they had gained almost 7%. The sputtering S&P 500 index, meanwhile, was trading down by nearly 0.4%.
Lower revenue, deeper adjusted net loss
iRobot's revenue fell to just over $166 million in the period from nearly $237 in the same period of 2023. Also heading in an unfavorable direction was the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) bottom-line loss, which deepened to $57.5 million ($1.96 per share) from the year-ago deficit of $39.3 million.
Even for the troubled iRobot, analysts were expecting better. Collectively, they believed the company would post revenue of slightly more than $169 million, accompanied by an adjusted net loss of $1.77 per share.
In its earnings release, iRobot attributed its performance to a clutch of different factors, including a "challenging consumer spending environment," the impact of foreign currency movements, and increasing competition.
NASDAQ: IRBT
Key Data Points
Upside surprise on quarterly earnings guidance
iRobot proffered guidance for both its current (third) quarter and full year 2024; this provided the ray of sunshine that so impressed the market on Wednesday. The company is forecasting revenue of $217 million to $223 million for the quarter, with adjusted net loss coming in at $0.01 to $0.11 per share -- much narrower numbers than the second quarter loss, and well better than the average analyst estimate of a $0.28 shortfall.
As for the full year, management is guiding for revenue of $765 million to $800 million, and adjusted loss per share of $3.31 to $3.77.
